Ad for Jeans?

I was walking through NYC, when I spotted a pornographic-like Calvin Klein ad that was meant for Jeans, but instead was a teenage girl in what looked like a threesome.  Deeply concerned and appalled with this outrageous ad that used unethical and offensive advertising, I decided to write to the CEO of their billboard company.

Dear CEO of Calvin Klein Billboard Company,

I recently was walking through NYC, and I found a billboard for Calvin Klein jeans. Instead of having jeans, it was a picture of, what was supposed to be a teenage girl in a threesome, with suggestions of a foursome.  With all due respect, I am deeply concerned with this ad because I believe that this was an unethical, offensive form of advertising.  The
message is unclear and redundant in this billboard.  You are trying to sell jeans in this ad, but using sexual exploitation to do so. It shows a topless young woman lying on top of a half-naked man while kissing another half-naked man!

For many years, women have been sexually exploited on ads.  I do not understand why this women, especially a young women, who looks like a teenager, is being demoralized just to sell a pair of jeans.  What is the message? If you buy these jeans, you will have a three some?  The message does not make sense! If you look at the link below you can see, that people have been disappointed by the ads that you have put up in the past, please be aware the messages you are not only sending to the adults watching, but the kids as well that are looking to buy your items!

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-06-14/local/17925564_1_calvin-klein-new-billboard-soho

Tiger Woods Is GOOD!

Recently, the award winning actor, Tiger woods, has had a lot of negative publicity towards his actions. He is accused of cheating on his wife multiple times with many women which makes him look extremely bad. He is supposed to be someone that children and teens look up to as a role model, but instead he is making himself look like the opposite of that.

I want to change the way people think about Tiger by reversing the negative publicity.  I want to get him to go to events to help children and the needy.  I want to use media relations to make sure that the media takes pictures of him doing this. I want this caption of the news story to read something like, “Tiger Wood’s spends his time helping the needy when he’s not practicing golf and spending time with his family.” I also want him to get on one of those talkshows like “Oprah” or “Barbara Walters” and I would like to make sure that the media covers the positive things that Tiger says that make him look good.  I would like to send Tiger and his family on a vacation on a secluded island with eachother and send the media there so they can capture the family being together, loyal, and happy. I would like to do this to show that Tiger doesn’t just go to bars and pick up sleasy women.

I may run into backfire, by the public saying that it is staged or set up, or people saying tiger is still a bad person for cheating on his wife which could be an issue, but I would try my best to get a positive image out there.

The PRSA Ethics Code talks about advocacy, honesty, expertise, loyalty, independence and fairness.  I would serve the public interest by acting like a responsible advocate while I represent Tiger.  I will also be truthful in everything that I want to go out to the media. I will not send out anything before I think that I have the right amount of knowledge and experience about the situation he is in. I will be faithful to Tiger in representing him and I will be fair with all the competitors, his peers, the media, and the general public who try to put him
down.

Follow My Leader

When I was a kid, I remember reading the book, “Follow My Leader,” by James Garfield. It is a realistic fiction book about a boy named Jimmy who unfortunately gets into an accident with a firecracker and ends up being blinded and has to relearn the things he used to know; like how to get dressed, how to find his way to school and around his house, and many other things. He learns braille and also how to use a cane, but he ends up getting something that changes his life, a guide dog. He works harder than he ever has worked before in his life, to help guide himself through this newly-dark world. Yes adapting to this new lifestyle was extremely hard, but working with the guide dog, later named leader, eventually helped him re-heal and get back to a normal life.

This book had a really big impact on my life because it was the first “big” book I had ever read. I was young, and naïve and this book helped me realize that not everyone’s life is perfect and sometimes you are put in situations that seem impossible to be resolved. Sometimes tragedies happen and you may be at your all-time low, but this book gives people hope. It opened my eyes to what it would feel like to be a blind child trying to live my everyday life.

Some books challenge your knowledge. Other books are just for entertainment. A lot of books teach you life lessons. And some books inspire you. “Follow My Leader” inspired me to not only be a better person, but to work harder. Sometimes I feel lazy and I sit on my butt all day and do nothing, but then I look at those people are struggling to live or do everyday activities and they are working harder than anyone else, just so they can live normally. This book inspired me to think like Jimmy and act as he acting in the book, so that I can be the best that I can be.

Product Placement Gone Wild

In the movie, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” starring Will Ferrell, it tells the story of a famous Nascar driver who wants to be the best driver in the world.  In his path to fame, the movie shows a ridiculous amount of product placement.  The movie is able to get away with this because it is all about Nascar driving, which is the sport with the most advertising already.  They have product placement in every single scene that is shown in this movie, whether its in his kitchen, while eating dinner, or while he is inside of his car, driving to win first place.

Ricky Bobby, the main character, sponsors Wonder Bread while he is driving.  His Opponent sponsors Perrier, the bubbly water.  Ricky Bobby’s best friend sponsors Old spice.  These three brands are exposed through their cars, the apparel that they wear, and any type of billboard, sign or flag they have.  They are so successful because they are featured on the main characters of the film.   As I was going through the movie I noticed numerous amounts of other brand names being exposed.  Brands like Kodak, Ford, Powerade, Wringley, Dominos, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, KFC, Lowes, Fox, Nabisco, Hardee’s, Visa, Miller, Tylenol, Sprint, GQ, Sony, Subway, Hasbro, Coors, Applebee’s, Good Year, Sportsbook, Basee Pro Shops, Checkers, Craftsman, NBC, Sparco, M&Ms, Country Corck, and Sunoco!

It is funny how Talladega Nights is meant for a teenager audience.  This shows how children make a big impact in what is bought from advertising products today.  As one can tell, there is an insane amount of product placement in this movie.  Whether it is a huge Wonder Bread sign on Ricky Bobby’s Jacket and car, obnoxiously exposed.  Or even a little Coca-Cola simple discreetly on a lampshade in the background.  Product placement is all around us, to help the spread of advertising so that people watching this movie are exposed to it. 

Killing Us Softly Reaction

The purpose of advertising is to sell products.  It tells us who we are, and who we should be.  “Killing Us Softly,” by Jean Killbourne was a good depiction of how women today are treated in everyday ads.  It shows the different ways in which men and women are placed and discriminated in ads, and how it affects our society.

Advertising today de-humanizes women in many ways.  They are becoming objects of sex rather than people.  Women in ads are usually placed so that their cleavage is showing and they are wearing little clothing.  Sometimes, the ad is zoomed into their breasts or their butts. In some ads, there faces are not even in the ads, just there bodies.  Ads make women feel like they are not “fully human.”

Using women in ads who are perfect with no flaws influence not only how men look at women but how women feel about themselves.  Ads today put beautiful, non-realistic women in them so that it makes women feel that they need to change to look like that women and they feel like they can do so if they dye their hair, or get plastic surgery.  They say things like, “Want to look 20 years younger?” or “Want to be this skinny?” It makes us feel like we can also look “perfect” if we try hard enough.  It creates jealously and ruins confidence of women.  A lot of the reasons women gain eating disorders, is by the jealousy of models, and the fight to look like them.

In all, “Killing Us Softly” really shows how advertising has changed over the years and how women are made to look perfect, young, skinny, and basically like dolls.  This has affected the way men treat us as well.  We subjects of sex, violence, and are being like objects rather than humans.  From ads, we are told to get plastic surgery, wear make-up or diet ourselves to make us feel like we are good enough for a man to look at.  We do not escape this exposure. Media on radio, television, billboards, movies, and much more all are changing in negative ways that have greatly affected women. If you Click Here it shows you a preview of what you can see with “Killing Us Softly” and how Jean Killbourne shows how women are being dehumanized through ads.

The Real World Disney

As I sit and examine the different Disney movies of my childhood, I come to find many similarities between them.  I looked at the movies “Beauty and The Beast,” “Alladen,” “Ariel,” “Cinderella,” “Snow-white,” as well as others.  All have impacted my childhood in many ways that I have only come to realize now. 

In all movies, they involve a single parent.  Bell, Jasmine, and Ariel live with their fathers.  Cinderella lives with her step-mother and sisters, and Snow-white lives by herself with dwarfs.  To someone who is naive, they might think that a perfect family in a fairy tale consists of two parents, a female and male.  When I was younger, I did not deeply think about how Disney could affect my life.  All of these stories explain a glorified version of how life could be, raising a child as a single parent. 

Not only is the Princess of these stories being raised by a single parent, but they seem to always have someone controlling them.  Bell is controlled by a beast who thinks that he can decide when she leaves the place she is trapped in, also when she eats, and when she can sleep.  This relates back to the real world with relationships.  The beast is similar to an abusive boyfriend who thinks he can control her every move.  The kiss at the end that turns him into a prince, relates to how women are brainwashed into thinking that if they kiss the “beast”, it will turn him into a prince.  The princesses, Jasmine and Ariel, are controlled by their fathers.  The fathers decide who they can date or what they can do with their lives.  This definitely relates to real life problems that could happen today.

Also, in all of these movies, the Princess is always coming in contact with a problem.  Bell is a prisoner of a beast, and throughout the movie she is trying to escape the beast, but ends up falling for him.  Jasmine is made up of a rich family and is being forced to marry a rich man, instead of the man she falls in love with.  All she wants to do is be free.  Cinderella’s step mom controls her.  Her step mom and sisters force her to do chores, and clean up, while they enjoy their glorified life.  She is trapped in this world where she can never be good enough because of the outfits she wears and the status she has. 

Yes, Disney is glorified with princesses and magic and prince’s to rescue these princesses on white horses, but Disney movies ultimately connect with our everyday lives today.  They deal with problems of having the right social status, or being imprisoned by their fathers, boyfriends or step mothers.  They go through issues of having only a single parent to take care of them, and their social status affect how people treat them.  These can be everyday problems that we have today in our lives.

This is a Disney Parody, using the movie “Mean Girls” as their voices to show how Disney relates to everyday life.  Yes it is a joke, and the characters of Disney did not say these words, but just like the movie mean girls, it shows the struggles of a highschool teenager and relates it back to Disney. –> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeTlxhhmEo

Good or Bad?

I researched the article, “Facebook: Good or Bad for communications.”  You can find this article by going to http://www.suite101.com/content/facebook-good-or-bad-for-communication-a121387.

This article talks about the positive and negative effects that Facebook has on communication these days.  It says how social networking can help stay in touch with those who are separated from us, like family and friends.  It can help us receive a certain level of social interaction.  Facebook can also bring together certain groups of people, who would have otherwise not met.  The article says that the negative aspects of Facebook are that people lack face-to-face interaction because they are so hooked on technology.  This undermines skills such as reading body language or indirect communication.  This might affect the future of social interaction.  Online information also is mostly less accurate than real world information.  Overall social networking is a good thing to have, but relying on only electronic communication can ultimately affect our society in a negative way.

 

I completely agree with this article.  I believe Facebook and other social networking sites can impact the communication style of a generation.  I think that Facebook has affected our generation in many ways.  I choose to talk to my friends a lot more through Facebook than calling them on the phone.  This is because it is a much simpler and easier way of communicating.  I think that in time, these social networking sites are going to impact the way we think, write, and communicate  at work, in the classroom, and in everyday life.

 

In the workplace, Facebook even impacts job interviews.  If someone was interviewing for a job, and they went on their Facebooks and found inappropriate pictures, that would affect whether or not they would be hired.

 

Facebook affects PR and advertising in many ways as well.  For my sorority, I am on the PR chair.  There is an application on Facebook to make events, so I send out invites for everyone to come which helps bring people to these events which makes it more popular. I believe that this is just a preview of what is to come in the future.  I think that people will be using Facebook to help their businesses become more popular.  Social networking sites will be the future of advertising.  Younger generations of people will be advertising and helping businesses flourish in the future. Overall, if people do not abuse social networking sites, it can be a positive thing for our society when it comes to communication.

2035

Our world in 2035 will be unrecognizable to today’s world.  Our internet will be super intelligent.  Our robots will replace people, so that people will not have to work as hard.  Not only will people live longer because of the revolutions in medicine, but robots will look after the elderly so that they can live up to age 130!  Our experiences with video will not only be 3D, but possibly 4D and 5D.  Because of new technology, world hunger will be solved by a simple Nanotech.  Children will be aided by visual learning instead of teachers.  This learning will make children smarter.  Not only will the people be smarter, but the internet will be as smart.  New odors and tastes will fill the air, making food taste even better than it does now.  College education will be all online and 50 percent of couples who end up married, will have met online.  Overall, life will be new, and more amazing than we can ever think.

Life in 2035 will be scarier than we can ever imagine.  Weather will be so extreme, that every rainstorm will be a hurricane and every windy day will be a tornado.  This will cause flooding and destruction to many homes.  Robots will take over people’s positions in jobs.  This will cause unemployment rates to sky-rocket.  Oil will dry up, so cars will not have anything to run on.  New inventions of video will cause major fights between technological businesses.  Because of the new technologies around the world, wars will become more violent, using the new inventions that people have made.  The world will be hectic and we will not have the leadership abilities to deal with it.

In 2035, I believe that my life, in the information age will change dramatically.  I’ll be using all forms of new technology to my advantage.  My phone will probably be the size of my pinky, but will be able to play TV shows, movies, the radio, and access anything that I could not have before.  I think that forms of communication technologies will change and it will effect mass communication in many ways.  You think advertising is bad now, but in 2035 Video advertising will not only be on television, but also on clothing! People will walk around with video hats, shirts, and pants, promoting a certain company or ad.  I believe that the television will not be called the television anymore.  I think that television, radio, and video advertising will be bigger than anyone would ever expect.  http://www.newsoffuture.com/about_the_future.html gives more information about what life could be like in 2035 and how our lives can change dramatically in many ways.

Rescued

It’s not every day that a man climbs up your hair to rescue you, a beautiful princess falls in love with a beast, a rich, royal Arabian falls for a poor man, or you hear a mermaid singing with fish. Ever since the late 30’s, Disney movies have been popular to families all over the world.  They are not only entertaining, but they have made a huge impact in gender roles today.  After watching the class movie about the great influence that Disney movies had and are still having, it was a big eye-opener for me.

The men in Disney movies are muscular, strong, powerful, and always rescuing the female. He does manly things, like carries a sword, fights dragons, kisses a princes, and saves them from a beast. In Beauty and the Beast, the beast resembles an abusive boyfriend.  Bell is mad at the beast so she tells him she doesn’t want to eat with him.  He responds by saying, “If you don’t eat with me, then you don’t eat at all!” She ends up running back to him, even though he’s abusive.  She also kisses him in the end and he turns into a prince.  This puts the image in our mind that if you kiss a “beast”, he will turn into a prince.

When you look at a princess in these movies, it’s always the same thing.  Fluttering eyelashes, a tiny waste, and big breasts.  You also see them cleaning, cooking, wearing dresses and makeup, and their hair done up nicely.  Even though these movies are meant for children, they show the way girls are seductive to men by using their bodies to manipulate them into doing things for them.  Like in Aladden, when Jasmine is trying to seduce Jafar to distract him for Aladden.  They also, seem to always be in trouble. Cinderella needs to be saved by her evil stepmother and step sisters. In Snow-white, she almost dies from an apple given to her by an evil witch, and has to be saved by the Prince who ends up being her hero. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I always knew that every girl wants and needs to be rescued. Disney movies have impacted gender roles greatly in that aspect. “Later, that night, I got to thinking about fairy tales. What if Prince Charming had never shown up? Would Snow White have slept in that glass coffin forever? Or would she have, eventually, woken up, spit out the apple, gotten a job, a health care package, and a baby from her local neighborhood sperm bank? I couldn’t help but wonder: Inside every confident, driven, single woman, is there a fragile princess just waiting to be saved? Was Charlotte right? Do women just want to be rescued?”- Carrie, Sex and the City

Addicted to Media

After taking the challenge of eliminating forms of media for two days I have come to realize one thing that I am confident in.  I have an addiction; an addiction to my cellphone.  No matter how hard I tried to stay away from my cellphone, because it is a definite form of Media, I could not do so.  Not only does my cellphone make calls, but it has texting, BBMing, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and much more.  It even has a space for notes, so I can leave myself one saying which room and what time my class starts, so that I do not get confused.  I also write down my homework in my phone so that I can be organized later when I get back to my room.  So as one can see, staying away from cellphones, especially blackberrys, are a big commitment.  On my phone, I check Facebook, at least, 20 times a day.  I know, it is pretty sad, but what else is a college girl supposed to do, when she is not studying, eating, or going to the gym?

Not only did I have a tough time with my media coming from cellphone, but in general, it’s near to impossible to avoid the media that is in our society today.  Ten years ago, you would hear people screaming from the sidewalk, “Extra, Extra read all about it,” about newspapers available.  Now, you don’t need a newspaper being sold from a person on the side of the road.  You can access any type of news media from television, radio, internet, and even my prized possession, the cell phone. You can be taking in many forms of media without even realizing that you are doing so. 

I tried limiting media by turning off the radio, limiting my television, and trying to restrict myself from browsing the internet as much as I usually do.  It was a difficult task to handle.  How can you go from checking Facebook 20 times a day, to not checking it at all?  How can you limit yourself to the radio, when you look to the radio as entertainment for news and music?  How can you stop watching television when you know your favorite show is on?

This year, it was said that the average person spends 575 minutes a day using media and the average person sees 3000 marketing messages a day!  As you can see, media is impossible to avoid even if we try to run away from it.